”la Caixa” Foundation’s budget up to 600 million euros in 2024, the highest in its history
Juan José López Burniol is appointed first vice president and Ángel Simón will be the new CEO of the holding company
- The Board of Directors of CriteriaCaixa has approved to propose to the Board of Trustees of “la Caixa” Foundation to renew José Antonio Asiáin, Marcos Contreras, Jean-Louis Chaussade, Isabel Estapé, Josep-Delfí Guardia and Francesc Homs as directors of the holding for a period of four years, and the appointment of Angel Simón as director.
- “la Caixa” Foundation will have a €600 million record budget in 2024, the highest in its history. In the last 15 years, the Foundation has invested nearly €7,000 million in social, scientific, educational and cultural initiatives in order to contribute to a society bringing more opportunities to the most needed.
- The Chairman of “la Caixa” Foundation and CriteriaCaixa, Isidro Fainé, expressed: “We are opening a stage and giving new impetus to the CriteriaCaixa project, aiming to secure the financial resources that “la Caixa” Foundation will need in the coming years to carry out its social work. The approval of a budget of €600 million for 2024 represents a remarkable step in the entity’s history. In a highly complex world, with increasing inequality, ”la Caixa” Foundation keeps itself committed to social and human development, especially of the most vulnerable people.”
Barcelona, January 25, 2024. The Board of Directors of CriteriaCaixa, the holding company managing the business assets of “la Caixa” Foundation, today agreed to propose the re-election of Isidro Fainé as president for the established statutory period of four years.
Isidro Fainé, who is also president of “la Caixa” Foundation, sole shareholder of CriteriaCaixa, has led a consolidation phase of the holding company in recent years, consolidating its position as first shareholder of strategic companies such as CaixaBank and Naturgy, and carried out a process of reorganization and diversification of its asset portfolio – with a gross value of €26,000 million – that will ensure a stable and sustainable dividend flow to finance the social activity of the Foundation in the coming decades.
The Board has also approved proposing the appointment of Juan José López Burniol as first vice president of the company. López Burniol, who until now was a member of the board of CriteriaCaixa, also holds the position of Vice President of “la Caixa” Foundation.
In addition, the Board of Directors of CriteriaCaixa has approved the proposal to renew José Antonio Asiáin, Marcos Contreras, Jean-Louis Chaussade, Isabel Estapé, Josep-Delfí Guardia and Francesc Homs as directors for a period of four years, as well as the appointment of Angel Simón as new director.
Likewise, the Board of Directors has agreed to propose the appointment of Ángel Simón as CEO of the company, replacing Marcelino Armenter, who leaves his position as of January 31. The Board has expressed its appreciation to Mr. Armenter for his dedication and labour as the company’s CEO during these years.
Ángel Simón (Manresa, 1957) is president of Agbar and senior vice president Iberia & Latam at Veolia. The new CEO of CriteriaCaixa is a Civil Engineer, in 1995 he joined the Agbar group, where he held numerous positions until being appointed as president in 2010. He has also been executive vice president of Suez (2013-2022) and manager of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (1989-1995), among other responsibilities. Throughout his career, he has received multiple recognitions, including the Professional Career Award from the Caminos Foundation in 2023 and the Medal of Honor for Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 from Foment del Treball. He is also part of the Board of Trustees of the Princess of Girona Foundation and the Royal Spanish Academy Foundation.
The Board of Directors of CriteriaCaixa, once approved by the Board of Trustees of ”la Caixa” Foundation in the session scheduled for February 15, will be formed by the following members:
Chairman: Isidro Fainé Casas
Vice chairman 1st: Juan José López Burniol
Vice chairman 2nd: Javier Godó Muntañola
Chief Executive Officer: Ángel Simón Grimaldos
Directors:
Enrique Alcántara-García Irazoqui
José Antonio Asiáin Ayala
Marcos Contreras Manrique
Jean-Louis Chaussade
Isabel Estapé Tous
Eugenio Gay Montalvo
Josep-Delfí Guardia Canela
Francesc Homs Ferret
Juan Manuel Negro Balbás
Asunción Ortega Enciso
Montserrat Trapé Viladomat
Adolfo Feijóo Rey (secretary non-director)
A record budget at the service of a social commitment
The budget of ”la Caixa” Foundation (which finances its activities thanks to the dividends that CriteriaCaixa brings from its investees each year) will reach €600 million in 2024. This is the largest budget in its history and exceeds by 12% compared to the budget in 2023, when it reached €538 million.
In the last 15 years, “la Caixa” Foundation has invested €7,000 million in social, scientific, educational, and cultural activity, moved by its mission of building a fairer society that gives more opportunities for everyone, especially for the most needed. “la Caixa” Foundation is the first foundation in Spain, the second one in Europe and it is among the largest foundations in the world by volume of managed assets and by social investment.
Of the total investment planned in 2024, 58.7%, over 350 million euros, will be invested to develop social programs, such as CaixaProinfancia, to fights child poverty; Incorpora and Reincorpora, to boost employment integration; the Comprehensive Care program for People with Advanced Diseases; or The Elderly program, to promote the social participation of the elder population. Also, the Calls for Social Projects will have a provision of nearly €60 million to meet the needs of all territories.
Investment in social programs will grow by more than 10% in 2024 compared to the previous year and will be the area of the Foundation with the largest budget increase, in order to promote strategic programs with social and transformative impact. Support for medical research -including the construction of the CaixaResearch Institute -, dissemination of culture and science and support for education and training of all types of groups will also continue to be priority lines.
The Chairman of ”la Caixa” Foundation and CriteriaCaixa, Isidro Fainé, expressed: “We are opening a new stage and giving new impetus to the CriteriaCaixa project, aiming to secure the financial resources that ”la Caixa” Foundation will need in the coming years to carry out its social work. The approval of a €600 million budget for 2024 represents a remarkable step in the history of the entity. In a highly complex world, with increasing inequality, ”la Caixa” Foundation keeps itself committed to social and human development, especially of the most vulnerable people.”
More information:
”la Caixa” Foundation
Jesús N. Arroyo: +34 629 79 12 96 / jnarroyo@fundaciolacaixa.org
Marc Gómez: +34 659576380 / marc.gomez@fundaciolacaixa.org
Leticia Gonzálvez: +34 649 254 091 / lgonzalvez@fundaciolacaixa.org
Press room
